Winner: Top Family Resorts

Home to the longest barrier reef in the western hemisphere, Belize has long been popular with scuba divers who head to the island of Ambergris Cay to float among the manta rays, turtles, dolphins, and sharks. As of late, however, travelers are heading inland to hike in a rainforest full of parrots and butterflies, visit rarely seen Mayan ruins, and canoe along the Macal River. This is where you’ll find a 365-acre nature preserve in the Cayo district called Chaa Creek.

Mick and Lucy Fleming opened this eco-resort in Belizelong before green was the magic word. They have grown over the past 27 years to include two dozen deluxe bungalows with thatched roofs, a more affordable mobile tent set-up with screened A-frames and communal bathrooms, and a spa that features massages and facials. But it’s the grounds, with its brightly colored flowers and a forest of tall mahoganies and cedars on a hill overlooking the river that gives the locale its deep-in-the-jungle

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